English Breakfast

Picture of English Breakfast
Brand:Harney and Sons
Style:English Breakfast
Caffeine:Caffeinated
Region:China
Loose/teabag:Teabag
Product page:English Breakfast

This tea's info last updated: Apr. 23, 2018

Commercial Description

Our English Breakfast has an ancient pedigree. Researchers have traced its heritage back to the black tea the English drank regularly in the 1800's. It is, simply, China Black - 100% Keemun. A simple way to start your hectic day!

Ratings & Reviews

Page 1 of 1 page with 2 reviews

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Reviewer pic61 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
(379 reviews) on

Sniffing the dry bag resurrected memories of high-school wood shop. At first I didn't understand why, then I realized the modest aroma has a component much like freshly sanded walnut, or basswood. That's not an unpleasant odor, just not what I expect in a tea. Perhaps a carpenter can appreciate this product better than I.

The wet-bag and in-cup smells were only stronger by a tiny amount, but at least with less wood and more tea. As dark as the cup steeped, the taste—while decent, not bad—struck me as remarkably unremarkable. The blandness caught me by surprise, coming from a brand and tea type of this repute. The only aspect that stood out was a bit more bitterness than I'd prefer in a plain black tea. Overall it was quite reminiscent of some ordinary food-service black teas I've had at little roadside motels.

Somehow the tea became just a little richer after I began eating some tortilla chips dipped in heaping helpings of New Mexico green chile/tomatillo salsa. My conclusion: if you're a carpenter who likes Hatch Valley green chiles, please obtain some of this tea. Otherwise, it's overpriced and overrated for what you get.
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Reviewer pic80 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
(170 reviews) on

I bought a box of teabags at the same time as a tin of loose tea to see how different they are. The answer is not much.

The box contains twenty individually sealed, standard, flat teabags. The dry tea is chopped up as fannings and has a fainter aroma than I get when sniffing a tin of loose tea, but once it starts brewing it smells the same to me. The nose is earthy with dried fruit and brown sugar.

The flavor is slightly muted compared to the loose tea, but it's possible that I use more tea when brewing loose. Otherwise, this tastes exactly the same as tea that H&S sells loose.

If nothing else, this tea is testament to the fact that tea sellers can make decent-tasting teabags if they want to. The box sells for only slightly more than Twinings or Bigelow, but is in a completely different league as far as quality is concerned.
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Page 1 of 1 page with 2 reviews

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